Last year I ranked Madonna's biggest singles she had in the southern hemisphere, today I'll be ranking her albums as well as revisiting my original list to include the songs that flopped in Australia and NZ but were massive hits internationally (as such I won't be updating my commentary from the original list.) The commentary from her albums are reviews I've written on Rateyourmusic much like the list I made for Elton John this time last year, although I feel my reviews will complement what I have to say about her singles perfectly. Enjoy!
I was a bit wary of this album at first, even with the flawless lead single with Justin Timberlake, I wasn't feeling this album's vibe as it feels like something Madonna would release in the 2010's where she's become little more than a meme since. Eventually I felt there was enough merit to this album even if it does have everything here that would make those later albums an embarrassment to her career later on.
There's enough of her qualities that made her catalogue up until this point great to listen to such as good songwriting, raw emotion in her vocals and good production. The bad elements are that there's a lot of reverb and autotune on here which to be fair wasn't new to this album, although one element that is are the featuring credits even if they're just from JT, Timbaland and Kanye west. I also don't like how it's obvious this was made in the late 00's as I feel the overproduced club beats haven't held up that well even during the height of the club boom less than a decade after this came out. It's why it's far from her best album but also why it's not as bad as what's to come from her.
Hit singles
4 minutes
Give it 2 me
I need to watch Dick Tracy after listening to this album, it seems like a bonkers film given how most of these tracks are performed in the film as Madonna's character Breathless Mahone which explains why the songs aren't what you would consider to be pop masterpieces (save for the closing track of course.)
You need to keep in mind that this is a character album rather than one from the queen of pop, the character in question is from the 1920's which explains why an otherwise progressive feminist is singing lines about how much she wants to be spanked as well as songs that feel like the belong in the Andrew sisters back catalogue. Obviously, these songs were meant to be ironic given how (to my knowledge) Breathless turns out to be one of the antagonists in the film who is a femme fatale looking to seduce the men of the 20's with these songs to achieve her goals. Again, it doesn't make for a compelling album conventionally, but it does make it a fun listen with this context in mind.
Hit singles
Vogue
Hanky panky
This album has similar issues to her previous album Erotica in that it tries too hard to make Madonna the sexiest thing on the planet, the main difference here is that it trades her dance sound for RNB given how it has Babyface as its executive producer.
Now I can see this album being innovative for her given how she was ahead of the curb when it came to white artists hopping on the RNB trend, the fact she had such a legendary RNB producer backing her up means that she was able to make this transition without it coming off as pandering to her new black audience even if the results were that the album plays it too safe with its RNB influences. There are tons of standouts here such as the lead single, however it's mostly dragged down by the ballads which once again prioritise making her sexy by having her sing elongated notes which apparently turns many people on. It's a unique album in her catalogue and definitely worth a listen, but it's also far from her best.
Hit singles
Secret
Take a bow
Bedtime story
Human nature
Normally I don't judge an album based on how attractive I find the artist in question; however, I have to make an exception here as this album is best enjoyed if you find Madonna to be the hottest person on the planet. Suffice to say, I don't as I'm more inclined to finding the likes of George Michael and Jon Bon Jovi to be attractive even if I can admit that Madonna is an objectively beautiful woman.
Aside from me not being the target audience for this album, the main issue I have here is how often Madonna over sings on here. This is the first album where she uses elongated notes which I'm guessing those who find her attractive to be sexy given how she would retain this technique throughout the rest of her career. This is a real slog on the ballads save for "Rain" where it works really well due to that track not trying to be sexy. What gives this album a passing grade from me are the more upbeat tracks as they're well produced and ring emotion out of her in a way that isn't trying to be titillating.
If you think Madonna is a goddess of sex, this album is for you. If not, there are highlights here, but it's otherwise mostly smut.
Hit singles
Erotica
Deeper and deeper
Bad girl
Rain
Bye bye baby
Now I normally don't review remix albums, after all, they're usually little more than cash grabs that turn an artist's back catalogue (usually one that isn't in the realms of dance music) into club bangers that ruin the emotion of the original tracks. Fortunately, Madonna was already a dance artist which means that this album took some of the catchiest music in her back catalogue and gave a new spin to each of them including a track originally meant for True blue that didn't make the cut for whatever reason. It's the rare remix album that I strongly recommend due to how much of an effort that went into remixing these tracks.
Well, this is the country album from Madonna, OK I know that calling this country is like calling a Taylor Swift album post Speak now country, but there's enough twang from the guitar for me to consider it as such even with the EDM production on display.
If I did have a problem with this album, it's that it's the first album where Madonna incorporates autotune. Now I know that she's been reliant on reverb since the late 80's, however that still required her to have some vocal talent which to be fair she still has on this album. The problem is she doesn't use it to enhance her performance like Cher did on her chart-topping hit "Believe" which makes you wonder how lazy of a vocalist she's become during the production of this album. To compensate for this, she finally displays her guitar skills on some of the tracks including the third single "Don't tell me" which while basic, does show off that even as a middle-aged woman she's still willing to play her own instruments (she was originally a drummer back in her day.)
It's an album that perhaps is more dated than her other work, however there's still plenty of merit to it even if the internet has turned against its lead single for some inexplicable reason.
Hit singles
American pie
Music
Don't tell me
What it feels like for a girl
This is basically the album Madonna wants you to believe was where her career began, suffice to say this is due to how much of a commercial success it was rather than it being her best effort as it's the first to have a considerable budget to it which resulted in it having some of her worst tendencies as a performer.
While this album is among my favourites from her, even I can admit that there's been a massive downgrade from her singing and songwriting compared to her first album as she relied on professional songwriters for the former and studio production for the latter. It's also a pop album at its core, meaning there's no deeper meaning to any of the songs lyrically or emotionally as she clearly only made this to get her name in the music scene so that she can make more artistic movements on her later work. As such, this is nothing more than an excellent pop album that doesn't have any deeper meaning to it which admittedly will be a huge turnoff from anyone who wants meaning in their music.
Hit singles
Like a virgin
Material girl
Angel
Dress you up
This is a return to Madonna's indie roots given how stripped back this album is compared to everything she's released since the first album. While it's a better album on a technical level, I find it a bit too meandering at points for this to be my favourite in her catalogue.
My main problem here is that once again, she insists on using elongated notes which makes some of the slower tracks on here drag much longer than they need to. I can't stand "Shanti" in particular as that song feels like it goes on forever, however it's also an issue with "The power of goodbye" and "Drowned world." I also noticed that she's no longer the powerhouse vocalist she was in the 80's as the lack of vocal processing on this album means that we hear how weak her voice has become due to it being so heavily reliant on postproduction. This actually works for a lot of the tracks given the themes of the album; however, I feel like it's a weak imitation of True blue at points.
It's a solid album as every negative thing I've brought up isn't enough to drag down how much I enjoy it; I just don't think it's her best album like so many others do.
Hit singles
Frozen
Ray of light
Drowned world
The power of goodbye
Nothing really matters
I feel this is a follow up to her remix album You can dance from 1987, the difference of course is that every song on here is original to her catalogue (save for a few lyrics here and there that came from other songs) as each of the tracks are edited in a way that flow into each other rather than being individual tracks.
True to its title, this is a dance album that's little more than her expressing her feelings in her relationship (presumably with Guy Ritchie) rather than tackling political issues like she did on her previous album. There's also a lack of autotune or even reverb on this album which means that while we don't get particularly strong vocals (which is to be expected from Madonna post Like a prayer) we at least get raw emotion on the tracks which is a return to form as her best albums tend to showcase her raw emotion in her vocals.
Hit singles
Hung up
Sorry
Get together
Jump
While most of Madonna's back catalogue had been flawless by the time she released this magnum opus of hers, she had yet to have a concept to her music that went beyond her love life which certainly wasn't the case here as she traded that in for her discovering her anti-religious views that she had built up since her initial breakthrough five years prior.
If you're a strong Christian, then this isn't the album for you as she makes some daring claims against her faith on tracks such as "Oh father" and the album closer "Act of contrition." It isn't just a straight attack against religion however as the title track and "Promise to try" do showcase her trying to be a good Christian girl even if by the end of the album, we understand why she can no longer be as such. There's also plenty of more light-hearted tracks to make it more than just her bold stance against religion, although one thing all of these songs have in common is how well performed they are from the diva as well as the production being top notch.
If you haven't checked out this album and are OK with a former Christian renouncing her faith in religion, give it a go as she does so in a way that's respectful. She did dedicate this album to her mother after all who according to her, taught her how to pray.
Hit singles
Like a prayer
Express yourself
Cherish
After selling out with her previous album, Madonna managed to regain her artistic merit she gained from her debut with this album thanks to dedication it to her (then) husband Sean Penn. There's a strong theme of unconditional love on the album which I'm sure is a big reason as to why she's since distanced herself from it given who it was made for.
The only thing I can say about this album is that it has the artistic merit of the first album and the budget of Like a virgin, meaning that while there's the glossy production that made the latter a huge hit for her, it's used in aid of accentuating her emotion rather than being lazy with her vocals, this is particularly noticeable with "White heat" and "Where's the party" which really do benefit from the reverb even though Madonna is singing her heart out on these tracks. It's definitely a return to form after a huge sellout on her previous album, check it out if you haven't already.
Hit singles
Live to tell
Papa don't preach
True blue
Open your heart
La isla bonita
I'm so glad to see this debut album from Madonna still be considered as one of the best pop albums of all time given how well it held up over the years.
If you need proof that Madonna was once a powerhouse vocalist, look no further than where her career began as without access to glossy studio production, Madonna had to give in her best vocal performance on each of these tracks which she does effortlessly. This is a dance album that alternates between Madonna falling in love and her falling out of love with a partner, a common troupe for these types of albums which nonetheless she pulls off expertly thanks to the raw emotion she gives in her vocals. It's also catchy as hell, not that it requires me pointing out given how prominent the singles remain on oldies stations to this day.
It's a fantastic start to a rollercoaster of a career, check it out if you haven't already.
Hit singles
Holiday
Burning up
Borderline
Lucky star
Surprise! I've decided to rank THE definitive entry point for Madonna's catalogue as her best album even though it's obviously a greatest hits package and thus should be ineligible for this list. My reasoning for this is A: this is the first album I remember listening to start to finish and B: every track on here is a remix of one of her biggest singles which technically makes this a remix album similar to that of You can dance.
Hit singles
Justify my love
Rescue me
If you're wondering why I didn't rank American life or her 2010's output, that's because this is meant to be a celebration of Madonna's catalogue, and I feel those songs are complete insults to the great work she's done for the music industry (particularly for female pop stars.) Also, I didn't rank the Evita soundtrack as that's just a collection of her performances in the film interspersed with the score and the performances from the rest of the cast, as such I felt that didn't fit in here like the Lion king soundtrack did on the Elton John list as he composed the songs for that film in addition to the songs he sung on.
Now to revisit her singles catalogue, don't worry, I've updated the album art for every entry I was able to find it for like I did for her entries on my recent Billboard lists. This in addition to me adding songs from hers that weren't previously eligible for this list will ensure it's not a carbon copy of the list I made last year.
Well, there had to be something that sucked about A league of their own, granted to do feel the melody is really pretty on this track, however Madonna's checked out vocals are at their worst on here and it just feels like a drag. No wonder this wasn't nominated for an Oscar (although that might be due to Aladdin and the Bodyguard sweeping the nominations) despite this being a Billboard chart topper.
A trend that Madonna picked up in the 90's was how she would over sing on her ballads, to me it sounded like she was yawning half of the time which didn't do much to invest me into these tracks. This is one of the more egregious examples of this phenomenon hence why I'm not a fan of it.
This is where Madonna's over singing is at its most pronounced as it really does seem like she's yawning on this track rather than giving it the subdue performance that the lyrics beg for, I'm still convinced this would've been long forgotten were it not for its usage in F.R.I.E.N.D.S for the record.
Well at least this cover has a beat to it unlike her previous three entries, still the fact that Madonna chose to cover one of the most culturally significant songs of all time for a film as offensive as The next best thing is (and not for its depiction of the LGBT community which strangely wasn't offensive) is about the most tone-deaf thing Madonna could've done at this point in her career.
I know that on a technical level this is an outstanding ballad, however I've never been that big on the original and I don't listen to Madonna's music for technical excellence. I won't put it last because it deserves so much better than being outranked by the dreck we've looked at so far on this list.
I guess I should finally feature this song on this list given how I have no excuse not to, just like the previous entry, I'm not really a fan of her take on Eva Peron in Evita even though on a technical level, she's never sounded better.
Yeah, the lyrics aren't going to win Madonna any feminism awards anytime soon, however there's no denying this is an otherwise fantastic vaudeville track from the queen of pop that perfectly fits in with the context of the film. For what it's worth, Madonna's character Breathless Mahoney is a femme fatale so even in the film, she was only pretending to be a sex diva longing for the mistreatment of a man.
Sure it's far from the worst song in her catalogue, however this was made to be a sexually provocative track more than anything which means it doesn't have the same universal appeal as her more definitive classic. Even so it's still catchy and I'm sure people still find it titillating to this day.
I always felt this song was over hated, although that might be my bias towards it and its video as I remember both of them being the coolest thing back in the day. I think people's hatred for this theme has less to do with the song itself and more to do with Madonna's overall music style at the time which people retroactively don't like.
This had to be bundled with "Into the groove" in order for it to be a success for Madonna in certain parts of the world, I can see why as it's one of her more cloying tracks and if there's a mode from Madonna, I'm not a big fan of, it's whenever she feels the need to be cloy in her music.
This is another ballad from Madonna I feel is a bit too cloying to be among my favourites from her, don't get me wrong it's catchy, but it's not among my favourites as is the case for many of her fans.
Of all the songs from Madonna's career I find to be a bit cloying, this is my favourite as she at least manages to display her vocal talents which she once had. It's true, she was able to hit those high notes with minimal effort back in the day, although she's since lost that ability due to her relying on studio trickery to hit those notes for her.
This is sort of cheating as Madonna is merely the featured artist on this track and she doesn't really add much to the song all things considered, however I'm sure I'll get a few "why didn't you include this" comments if I don't have it on here so here we go. It's a song that exists more for the publicity of the album it came from, however there have been worse songs in both artists careers in my opinion.
I know that this song can feel annoying if you don't realise it's meant to be satire of the rich and famous (not helped by Madonna herself becoming everything she criticises in this song over the years) however I do get the joke and find myself enjoying this for what it is more than I care to admit.
This is the most recent song to appear on this list, suffice to say that Madonna will always have a chance to make a song I like so long as she continues to make music (even if nothing she's released since this is anything I like.) Here we have an environmental track about how she and Justin Timberlake are going to save the world, sure it's narcissistic, but the chemistry they have is undeniable and for a good cause.
While this is a good choice for the lead single to Ray of light, I feel that the album had better options including its title track. Admittedly I feel the album is best enjoyed from start to finish rather than for its individual singles which is a rare phenomenon in Madonna's catalogue.
I'm not the biggest fan of Madonna's ballads for the most part, however when she gets it right like she does on this sole ballad on her Erotica album, you can rest assure that I'll be revisiting it again and again.
As a song, I think this is excellent much like 90% of the entries on this list, as a single however, it feels a bit weird as do all of the tracks from Confessions on a dance floor save for the lead single which at least had a clear end point to justify it as the single.
This is one of the more cloying songs from Madonna's catalogue, although there's no denying that it's a ton of fun to sing the lyrics over karaoke which makes this a huge guilty pleasure for anyone who isn't a diehard fan of the queen of pop.
I know Madonna doesn't have many fond memories during the production of the film of the same name (or indeed during this phase of her life in general) however the Latin flavoured production combined with the lyrics has always been a huge draw for me and I'm sure audiences of the day. It was a huge hit back in the day and one I hope one day she's come around on.
It takes a while to get into this track as I can admit that I didn't like this at first, however once you do, you'll find a highly sexy track from one of the most beautiful women in the world that does so much more than shock the prudes in the audience. As an extra fun fact, this was written by Lenny Kravitz to give it that extra layer of seductiveness.
I've got to hand it to Madonna, she makes for a surprisingly good RNB singer as evidence of her lead single to her album Bedtime stories. The groove on here is slick and works wonders with her more seductive voice, I guess this could've also been on her previous album Erotica with how titillating she is on here.
Guys I know this is a classic and believe me I do love this Latin flavoured track from Madonna, I just don't think it's among her best which is why it isn't any higher on this list. That said this is a compelling tribute to her Hispanic heritage as she incorporates a Spanish guitar and Spanish lyrics throughout the track that helps it stand out from all of the synth tracks from when it was released.
I honestly don't get people, sure this is an Avant Garde track from the queen of pop, but I've loved this song since the day I first heard it back in 2000 and no amount of internet discourse is going to diminish that love I have for this track.
This was the song that opened up the film Who's that girl, it's one of her catchier numbers and the cartoon it soundtracks proved to be more entertaining than the movie itself which seems to be little more than Madonna screaming for an hour and a half. It's a song that had more effort put into it than anything involved with the movie it was made for.
This is an example of a ballad done right from Madonna, I really do feel invested in the relationship that she paints out in this song thanks to her tender vocals as well as the production being catchy whilst still being a ballad. I have no idea how this works for the film it's written for but I'm sure it's an effective scene it's used in.
Simplicity can often go a long way in having a song be great, this song is the first to feature Madonna playing the guitar (she was previously a drummer before she became the queen of pop) which shows that while it's clear she was just starting out, she picked a catchy guitar lick to build the song upon which I and many others enjoy to this day.
One of the rawer performances that Madonna gives on record, here we have a ballad written for a long forgotten 80's flick no one remembers that regardless allowed this song to top the charts worldwide for her. This ballad likely led to the creative direction of her next album which she dedicated to her then husband Sean Penn.
This was the song that began it all for the queen of pop, although it needed two attempts to make it big in Australia considering it was a huge flop for her in her native America. Most people likely won't realise this is her debut single, although it's a strong start to her career given how she was "burning up" for the love of her life on this track.
This feels like it belongs on Ray of light, although it was actually written for the second Austin Powers flick for a scene that works remarkably well with the song in question. While the song is fantastic, I can't deny that part of my love for it comes from the video where she's shaking her groove thing to mini me in a 60's themed club.
Well, "Gimme gimme gimme" is one of my favourite songs from Abba, so naturally this lead single to Confessions on a dance floor would be among my favourites from the queen of pop given how it opens up an album that's meant to be one long track as opposed to individual songs. The alarm clock at the end of the track is the perfect way to end the song, which makes it the best single from the album by default.
This one took a while for me to fall in love with as my introduction to it (as with many of these songs) was on the Immaculate collection where it succeeded "Into the groove" on the album. Fortunately, I grew to love this haunting ballad that was written for her (then) husband's film At close range, it's a bit depressing if you're not in the right mood but it really speaks to you if you are.
I'm raking this song based on the live version given how I much prefer that over the album version which I feel is a bit too cloying even on the album. The live version is a more rock-oriented track as opposed to the album version which is pop and also doesn't have as many lyrics in the outro as the live version does. She's also less shrill on the live version than she is on the album version for some reason.
One of only two entries to appear nowhere else on this site, we have the first big hit that Madonna had in her native America given how "Holiday" was only a hit here in Australia and the UK back in the day. Much like that masterpiece, this is also a perfect display of her vocals as there's practically no production filters to enhance them. It's a bit cloying lyrically, but I still love it regardless.
We're getting closer to the top of this list, so expect to see some surprises such as this title track from Ray of light not appearing any higher on here. It's a song that's both catchy as hell as well as her exploring her newfound spiritualism following a decade of her being a hardcore atheist. She's not religious by any means, but she obviously needed some comfort in this world which she found here.
A song that advocates for a teenage girl to decide whether or not she wants to keep her child after getting knocked up, while I can comfortably say that I will never find myself in the situation painted out by the lyrics, I do sympathise with everyone who has found themselves in this situation and have done for most of my life given how I've been listening to and loving this track since I was a very young child.
Well, this is the song that people accuse Lady Gaga of stealing from, although to be fair it's more the album version as there's different versions of this track depending on what we're looking at. For the sake of my sanity, I've gone with the single version as that's the one that most people would've heard of, although special mention goes to the album version for its bombastic production and the Immaculate collection version which also has slick production.
Admittedly most of Madonna's music doesn't require you to think that hard about it, however this title track from her fourth album is the rare exception to that rule as it opens up and album that's all about exploring her faith in religion only to conclude that she no longer has that faith. It's a song that a fellow Christian turned atheist can fully relate to.
It's about time that I properly feature this classic on this site, given how this was written for Cyndi Lauper in mind, this was a shoe in for being this high on the list as I love Cyndi's 80's output just as much as Madonna's. Heck I can even somewhat hear Cyndi's vocals on this track, which goes to show how great of a singer Madonna used to be if she can match her vocal prowess.
Few artists are able to get it right with their earliest work, so it gives me great pleasure to rank this holiday classic from the queen of pop as one of her best songs as it's not only catchy, but also proof that at least once upon a time she had an amazing voice as there's no vocal filters on this track like there are with most of her other songs throughout her career.
This is one of my favourite songs from Madonna purely due to how much shameless fun it is, it's catchy as hell as well as it having a theme of exploring the unknown in a relationship. It was the highlight from her Erotica album for me and it appears to be well remembered by her fanbase even to this day.
You better believe that a dance craze is among my favourite songs to come from Madonna's catalogue, from the various shout outs to Hollywood legends she gives to the iconic line "strike a pose," this is a Madonna track that will live on in pop culture long after Madonna's relevancy dies out.
I bet you weren't expecting to see this so high on the list, indeed Madonna's love letter to the Mer people of the day (I still can't get over the music video) proved to be more compelling to me than most of her other ballads combined due to how in love she sounds on the track. It's also catchy as hell thanks to the laid-back production allowing the ambience to carry her passionate vocals throughout its runtime.
This is easily the best song Madonna has ever released, it's well performed, tells a heartwarming tale about how she's not going to be alone while she's dancing and it's just catchy as hell to boot. One of these days I'll have to watch Desperately seeking Susan to see how this film fits into the story because I get the feeling it's the only reason why it was a critical and commercial success back in the day.
